AK’s Quilled Body Parachute Dun

Paraquill, BWO

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Tying Instructions

1. Flatten the barb of the hook with your vise and secure the hook at the bottom of the hook bend. Attach the thread at the 1/3 position of the hook shank wrapping a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.

2. Select about 6-8 stiff hackles from a spade hackle. You can procure these hackles from the sides of a cape or purchase a tailing pack with these hackles.

3. The length should be slightly longer than the hook shank. Attach the tailing fibers at the bend of the hook and wrap the tag ends to about the 1/3 position. Clip off the tag ends of the tailing fibers.

4. Select a 1/4 inch section of Turkey T-Base for the wingpost. Note how the T-base has a flat and even tip. You should clip this section with a cut that is parallel to the tips.

5. Keeping the tips aligned, roll the segment and position the tie-down at the area in front of where you trimmed the tailing butts. The wing post should be the length of the hook shank.

6. A.K. likes to hold the segment at a 45 degree downward angle in front of the shank. With 2 soft thread loops, the bundle will position itself on top of the shank upon tightening the thread.

7. Trim the butt ends of the T-Base and wrap to cover the clipped butts.

8. Try to wrap an even taper. Lift the wingpost tips and wrap 7-8 turns against the front of the wingpost to hold the wingpost upright.

9. Wrap 7-8 times around the base of the wingpost to give support to the hackle. This is easily done with a rotary vise rotating the wingpost towards you.

10. Select a hackle stem and clip the guill where the diameter of the quill is about the same as the diameter of the shank.

11. This clipped tip is then attached to the side of the hook shank and secured with thread wraps to the tail tie-off position.

12. Wrap the quill forward. At the wingpost, secure the quill with some tight thread wraps behind the wing post.

13. Then, bring the quill underneath and tie-off the quill in front of the wingpost.

14. Clip the butt and wrap over. Apply some UV Clear Fly Finish, Flow to the quill body.

15. Harden the coating with a UV lamp.

16. Select a stiff Dun Hackle about one size larger than the hook size. Clip three hook-eye lenths of fibers from the stem shiny-side up. This helps keep the fibers from twisting the hackle. Tie the butt end in front of the wingpost nearest you. Also put a couple of wraps around the base of the wingpost to anchor the hackle to the wingpost.

17. Build up a thread thorax and head covering the hackle and quill body butt ends.

18. Wrap the hackle 4-5 turns around the wingpost proceeding in a downwards direction. Wrap the thread at the base of the wingpost just above the tag end of the hackle 2-3 times to secure the hackle wraps.

19. Bring the hackle tip over the hook eye and underneath the thread. Bringing the thread over the hackle tip will lock the hackle into place. Wrap the thread around the hackle tip two more times before trimming the tip. Lift the hackles from above the hook eye and wrap to further secure and cover the hackle tip. Apply 2-3 half hitches.

20. Apply some head cement at the head and also at the base of the wingpost. The finished Quill Parachute, BWO.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 100 #16-20
Thread	Veevus 8/0 Olive
Body	BWO Dyed Quill
Thorax	BWO Superfine
Tail	6-12 Med. Dun Spade Hackle Fibers
Wingpost	White Turkey Flat
Hackle	Med. Dun Hackle

AK Best

AK’s Quilled Body Parachute Dun

Designed by A.K. Best of Boulder, Colorado in the 1980’s. Quilled Body Parachute Duns can represent the emerger stage of the mayfly and will often be effective at the beginning of the hatch and at the end of the hatch when spinners are starting to drop. They are more easily seen and can be good during low light situations.

A Quilled Body Parachute Dun body will be within the surface film and a good stiff tailing material is required to support the hook. Select good spade hackles from a cape or select from a commercially available tailing pack such as Whiting CDL Tailing packs. A.K. tends to use 2-3 additional tailing fibers than he would on a standard dun pattern and would have the tails slightly longer, maybe 1-2 eye lengths longer. The tails should splay out from the bend of the hook which can be done with some tight thread wraps.

Stripped Quills

A.K. prefers to use dyed Stripped Quills for the body rather than dubbing to get a more slender profile. Stripped quills are dyed with a number of colors to match any mayfly. Stripped quills will also perform better as a dry fly than dubbed body flies since the quill does not imbibe water and will not pick up foreign residue. The body is cleaner, sheds water, and will perform well as a dry fly for a longer period of time.

The quills should come from domestic Rooster Necks or Chinese Rooster Necks. The genetic neck hackles and saddle hackles are too thin for a Clorox and water treatment that burns off the fibers or from manually stripping. The resulting quill will crack in numerous places. Commercially available dyed Stripped Quills are available in a number of colors and should be soaked for at least ten minutes in water prior to use. You might try coating the quills with Loons UV Fly finish, Flow. This coating will help to protect the quills from cracking and damage.

Turkey Flats

A.K. also prefers to use Turkey Flat feathers for the parachute wing. Traditional materials such as Calftail or Poly Yarn produce a large bump where the wing is tied onto the shank. This is a problem on the smaller baetis patterns. In addition, the use of a hair wing post usually has a weight distribution problem on the small baetis patterns that cause the fly to tip on its side upon the water. A.K. likes to use the Turkey Flat feathers that are 2-4 inches long. They compress well, needing fewer thread wraps, lighter than Calf Hair, and more durable.

Thorax

Note that A.K. usually ties his Quilled Body Parachute Dun without a dubbed thorax as the thread coloration suffices. You will see dubbing applied on the the thorax of his spinner patterns. This is a matter of personal preference as the dubbing can be applied prior to the wrapping of the hackle on the Quilled parachute and many of the commercially tied flies will have this feature.

Hackle

The hackle should be from a good quality saddle or neck with no webbing, one size larger than the hook, ie on a #16 hook, choose a size 14 hackle. The bare stem of the hackle is tied along the base of the wing post and the hackle is wrapped with 4-5 turns proceeding down the wingpost. A.K. will tie off the tip of the hackle on the side of the hook in front of the wing post and whip finish. Some tiers will secure the hackle around the wing post and whip finish around the wing post as well, then finish with a few half hitches at the eye. This can achieve a clean appearance for the threaded thorax. Patterns of particular mayflies vary by the selection of the quill, hackle, thread color, and tailing fibers.

Trico Paraquill

Hook	TMC 100, sizes 20-24
Thread	Uni Thread 8/0 White and Black
Body	Baetis Olive Dyed Quill
Thorax	Black Superfine
Tail	White Spade Hackles
Wingpost	White Turkey Flat
Hackle	Black Hackle

Callibaetis Paraquill

Hook	Tiemco 100 #14-16
Thread	Uni Thread 8/0 Gray
Body	Light Cahill Dyed Quill
Thorax	Blue Wing Olive Superfine
Tail	Med. Dun Spade Hackles
Wingpost	White Turkey Flat
Hackle	Grizzly Hackle

PMD Paraquill

Hook	Tiemco 100 #14-18
Thread	Uni-thread 8/0 Light Cahill
Body	Ginger Dyed Quill
Thorax	PMD Superfine
Tail	Light Ginger Spade Hackles
Wingpost	White Turkey Flat
Hackle	Ginger Hackle